Assad’s forces press offensive outside capital
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces pressed their offensive against the last rebelheld town in eastern Ghouta near the capital Damascus on Saturday under the cover of air strikes as shelling of civilian areas on both sides claimed more lives, state media and opposition activists said.
Syrian troops resumed their offensive on rebel-held Douma on Friday afternoon after a 10-day truce collapsed over disagreement regarding evacuation of opposition fighters. The violence resumed days after hundreds of opposition fighters and their relatives left Douma for rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
By Saturday night, state media reported that troops were approaching Army of Islam fortifications on the edge of the town. It said warplanes bombarded the group’s headquarters and command and control center.
State TV said Army of Islam fighters hit several neighborhoods in Damascus with mortar shells, killing six civilians and wounding more than 30.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombardment of Douma killed at least eight people and wounded 48, including 15 children.
Some opposition activists in Douma posted photographs of people wearing gas masks, saying government forces shelled the town with poison gas. State media denied the reports, saying “such farces about chemical weapons” were triggered by the troops’ quick push toward Douma.
Government forces launched a crushing offensive in February and March on eastern Ghouta, capturing dozens of towns and villages and forcing thousands of opposition fighters to surrender and evacuate the area.
A deal was reached last month to evacuate Douma, but activists and state media reported that the Army of Islam rebel group demanded amendments to the deal.
Russia’s military said the Army of Islam has forced out leaders who were taking part in negotiations to withdraw from Douma and that their fighters have resumed attacks.
Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to expand the offensive against Syrian Kurdish militants in northern Syria eastward to the town of Tel Rifat. A spokesman for his office, however, said an operation against Tel Rifat might not be needed. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart that the main Kurdish militia People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, is no longer present there.